Our one-week unit is the first week of a three-week unit that we found online, as suggested in Module 1.Our project is a science based look at materials science, that is, what is matter made of, with a focus on water and its three states of being; liquid, solid, and gas. We would also like to add looking into the macro-invertebrates that live is fresh water areas in student communities. This unit involves multiple schools in different classrooms in other states and we hope to find classrooms in other countries to join us. We have added the use of technology and included aspects of Universal Design for Learning, Differentiated Instruction, and Understanding by Design. We hope that our project grows to include many classrooms around the world so that diversity becomes a focus of our science studies.
The Inquiry Project unit we found here is research based and is the bases of our work. The Inquiry Project research addresses three main questions:
What changes occur as children move from judgments based on their direct experiences and their perception to a model-mediated understanding of matter?
How does quantitative reasoning play a role in students’ changing understanding of matter?
How effective is the Inquiry Curriculum in promoting such developments?
We wanted to bring in the place based education and authentic learning with this unit called Bucket Buddies. The website gives this summary: In this project, students will attempt to determine whether or not the same fresh water macro invertebrates (organisms that can be seen with a hand lens) will be found in different locations, both around the country and around the world.
Student build a small models of a lake to understand the processes of water cycles in a real lake
Measuring and recording weight is a way to keep track of materials
The Next Generation Science Standards Grade 5 NGSS
5-LS2-1: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that matter that is not food (air, water, decomposed materials in soil) is changed by plants into matter that is food. Examples of systems could include organisms, ecosystems, and the Earth. Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include molecular explanations.
Life Science:
Disciplinary Core Ideas
LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).
Essential Question: (For the complete 4 week unit)
We know that ice floats. What would happen to the living things on Earth if ice did not float? We know this to be an authentic question for our learners because it addresses an issue that plays a part in their everyday lives. Global Warming is reducing the amount of ice cover on the planet therefore less solar radiation is being reflected back into space. The white color of ice is critical in keeping the temperature of the Earth down.
Essential Questions for Week One:
Day 1 "Why are these ships in a field?" Day 2 "How can we keep track of our mini-lake materials?" Day 3 "How does water compare with sand?" Day 4 "What does a drop of water weigh?" Day 5 "What changes and what stays the same when salt dissolves in water?"
Three Classrooms' Collaboration Activity:
The classes will collaborate to answer the essential question by working through the unit’s lessons and use Edmodo to share what they have discovered each day. Each class will contribute to a common discussion about the work they do each day, and the ideas they had in regards to considering all they are learning/reviewing, to finalize their response to the essential question. They will present evidence for their statements and try to demonstrate the science in their conclusions.
Each Classroom’s Collaboration: How will students within each class collaborate on different parts of the project?
Students within each class will interact with each other daily using a common Edmodo group code to join in with discussions where they will also post pictures and videos of their results and investigations. They will create graphic displays of their data to share with each other. They will discuss all cases where experimental results were common and all where results were not common and why that might have been so.
Equipment:
Day 1
Science Notebook for each student
Prepare student aids to post each day on the classroom website - additional information sources of the concepts that we want them to learn, use images, videos, and a variety of presentation styles to allow them to find the assistance they might need.
Library books to display about the room with information about water, water cycles, and matter
Mini-Lake prepared for demonstration - use 120 grams of sand and 120 grams of gravel to prepare a small lake bottom and shoreline in a sandwich box. Add 120 grams of water and a few small rocks around the perimeter of the shoreline
For each group:
1 6in strip of masking tape
Sand!
2 index cards, as prepared above
2 plastic spoons
2 sandwich boxes with covers
2 12oz cups 2/3 full of sand
2 12oz cups 2/3 full of gravel
2 12oz cups 2/3 full of water
2 12oz cups each holding 8 small rocks
8 plastic vials with covers
1 digital scale; number and assign each scale to a group for use throughout the curriculum. This will help students get consistent results in the event of small differences between scales
Introduce the new unit – (Learning goals: understand that the classroom mini-lakes will help students understand the processes that occur in real lakes and measuring and recording weight is a way to keep track of materials.) explain that the topic is water and we will look at the ways that water changes. You will be doing several investigations, each one beginning with a question. Project and read the letter from the Engineer to the class (Page 14 in the PDF) Whole group discussion, 5 minutes
Elicit student ideas about the picture of the boats on dry land. The purpose to find out why students think these boats are stranded on dry land. Make a summary chart of their ideas. Have them record these ideas in their science notebooks. (Page 15 in the PDF) Whole group discussion, 10 minutes
Introduce the mini-lakes. Ask students to list the natural materials they expect to find in lake. Show them the teacher made mini-lake. Ask them about the changes that a lake might go through as time passes. (Page 16 in the PDF) Explain and show them the materials they will use to build their own mini-lakes. In order to understand change they must measure the volumes of the components they use to make their lakes. They will work in pairs and use the digital scales for this. (Page 16 in the PDF) Whole group discussion, 5 minutes
Weigh the materials for the mini-lakes. Use the information in the PDF for help students learn to record their data. There is also a page to use to assist in introducing tare weight Pairs, Notebooks needed, 25 minutes
Day 2 Water, a Liquid (Page 19 in the PDF)
Post the investigation question in Edmodo “How can we keep track of our mini-lake materials?” (Page 19 in the PDF) (Learning goals: understand the concept of volume and understand the importance of identifying possible sources of measurement error.)
Review the concept of volume, estimate volume, share estimates with examples, pictures, projections, and sound. Put it on the classroom website for student review at any time. (Page 20 in the PDF) Small groups, notebooks needed, 15 minutes
Measure volumes, collect data, and build mini-lakes, weigh the completed mini-lake. Begin building a graph of weight over time. Read/project the Letter from the Engineer (Page 21 in the PDF) Pairs, 20 minutes
Make meaning of the fact that the sum of the parts does not match the weight of the completed mini-lake. Discuss (pairs then whole group) why this is so. Summarize the discussion and recap the investigation, post on classroom website for student reference. (Page 23 in the PDF) Whole group, 10 minutes
Introduce the macro-invertebrates that live in nearby pond or lake water. Use the USB microscope to project a petri dish of lake water and capture the image to post in Edmodo. Have students bring in samples of water from other local outdoor sources if possible. Alternately, collect water samples from different parts and depths of the lake. Discuss the water that they used today in the making of their lakes. Does it have macro-invertebrates in it? Collect the images of what you find in each the water samples from each location. Use Twitter to publish the images and try to find classrooms around the globe that will contribute their findings.
Day 3: Water a Liquid (Page 25 in the PDF)
Ask the question in Edmodo, “How does water compare with sand?” Whole group, 10 minutes (Learning goals: Understand that one cubic centimeter of water weighs one gram and one gram of water has a volume of 1 cubic centimeter or cc, and Understand that measurement includes taking into account possible sources of error.)
Share/review the data from Day 2’s measurements in Edmodo. Whole group, 20 minutes
Develop a T-chart in Edmodo, one side labeled different and the other side labeled same. Develop the concept of water identities for weight and define matter. Post the summary on the website for later student review. (Page 28-29 in the PDF) Whole group, 5 minutes
Make meaning of the focus question, summarize the discussion, and recap the investigation to post on the website. (Page 29 in the PDF) Whole group, 10 minutes
Introduce 315 Dots Per Page (See resource quick links page in PDF)
Day 4: Water a Liquid (Page 31 in the PDF)
Ask the question in Edmodo, “What does a drop of water weigh?” Whole group, 5 minutes (Learning goal: Understand that very small things have weight.) (Page 31 in the PDF)
Develop a strategy, Whole Group, 15 minutes, there are four methods defined in the PDF, discuss, and demonstrate all four. It is important to refine the question of the day to be more precise and measurable. (Page 32 in the PDF)
Explore, Individuals, 5 minutes, pairs of students will make rows of water droplets to visualize 1 cc of water. (Page 33 in the PDF)
Share the results, Whole group, 10 minutes, notebook needed, collect each student pair's count and complete a table of results. Answer, “What does a drop of water weigh?” from the table, in the science notebook. (Page 34 in the PDF)
Make meaning, Whole group, 10 minutes, discuss and construct explanations for how objects such as a bucket of water or sand have significant weight, given that a single drop of water or grain of sand has no perceptible weight. (Page 34 in the PDF)
Include the these three questions in the discussion
Do you think a single grain of sand weighs anything? Explain your answer.
How does a bucket of sand get to be so heavy when a grain of sand weighs so little?
Can you think of other examples of tiny bits that seem to have no weight individually, but that can be combined together to have significant weight?
Summarize the discussion and recap the investigation, post to website. (Page 35 in the PDF)
Day 5 Water, a liquid (Page 36 in the PDF)
Ask the question in Edmodo “What changes and what stays the same when salt dissolves in water?” Learning goals: understand that weight stays the same as a substance is dissolved, and understand that things too small to see have weight and take up space. Whole group, 5 minutes
Explore materials, including salt. Individuals, 5 minutes, (Page 38 in the PDF)
Demonstrate dissolving, Whole group, 5 minutes, (Page 39 in the PDF)
Dissolve salt in water, Pairs, 20 minutes, notebooks needed, students will dissolve their salt and transform their mini-lakes into salt lakes that they will weigh. (Page 40 in the PDF)
Make meaning through discussion, Whole group, 10 minutes, introduce claims and evidence, focus question – “What changed and what stayed the same when the salt dissolved in water? What evidence supports your claim?” (Page 41 in the PDF)
Summarize the discussion and recap the investigation to post on the classroom website. (Page 42 in the PDF) Have students each write a five-paragraph summary of each investigation’s key understandings, with one paragraph for each day. Provide a brief list of the five daily activities to help students stay clear and focused.
Formative Assessment Strategies:
Questions in Edmodo each day give teachers a chance to check student understanding before moving into the next learning goal
Science notebooks give written evidence of student understanding and scientific processes
Class discussions provide evidence of student learning and misconceptions
Summative Assessment Strategies:
On day five, the students will complete the Water, a Liquid section of this curriculum and individually write a summary of what they learned during this week. A brief list of the five daily activities will provide students with guidance.
Project Title:
Investigating Water Transformations
Keeping Track of Matter
Our one-week unit is the first week of a three-week unit that we found online, as suggested in Module 1.Our project is a science based look at materials science, that is, what is matter made of, with a focus on water and its three states of being; liquid, solid, and gas. We would also like to add looking into the macro-invertebrates that live is fresh water areas in student communities. This unit involves multiple schools in different classrooms in other states and we hope to find classrooms in other countries to join us. We have added the use of technology and included aspects of Universal Design for Learning, Differentiated Instruction, and Understanding by Design. We hope that our project grows to include many classrooms around the world so that diversity becomes a focus of our science studies.
The Inquiry Project unit we found here is research based and is the bases of our work. The Inquiry Project research addresses three main questions:
We wanted to bring in the place based education and authentic learning with this unit called Bucket Buddies. The website gives this summary: In this project, students will attempt to determine whether or not the same fresh water macro invertebrates (organisms that can be seen with a hand lens) will be found in different locations, both around the country and around the world.
Here is the curriculum in its entirety:
One Week Project:
Goals and Objectives:
The Next Generation Science Standards Grade 5 NGSS
5-LS2-1: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that matter that is not food (air, water, decomposed materials in soil) is changed by plants into matter that is food. Examples of systems could include organisms, ecosystems, and the Earth.
Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include molecular explanations.
Life Science:
Disciplinary Core Ideas
LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases, and water, from the environment, and release waste matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment. (5-LS2-1)Science and Engineering Practices
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s).- Support an argument with evidence, data, or a model. (5-LS1-1)
Crosscutting ConceptsSystems and System Models
Energy and Matter
- Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects. (5-PS3-1)
- Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
We know that ice floats. What would happen to the living things on Earth if ice did not float?Essential Question: (For the complete 4 week unit)
We know this to be an authentic question for our learners because it addresses an issue that plays a part in their everyday lives. Global Warming is reducing the amount of ice cover on the planet therefore less solar radiation is being reflected back into space. The white color of ice is critical in keeping the temperature of the Earth down.
Day 1 "Why are these ships in a field?"Essential Questions for Week One:
Day 2 "How can we keep track of our mini-lake materials?"
Day 3 "How does water compare with sand?"
Day 4 "What does a drop of water weigh?"
Day 5 "What changes and what stays the same when salt dissolves in water?"
The classes will collaborate to answer the essential question by working through the unit’s lessons and use Edmodo to share what they have discovered each day. Each class will contribute to a common discussion about the work they do each day, and the ideas they had in regards to considering all they are learning/reviewing, to finalize their response to the essential question. They will present evidence for their statements and try to demonstrate the science in their conclusions.Three Classrooms' Collaboration Activity:
Each Classroom’s Collaboration: How will students within each class collaborate on different parts of the project?
Students within each class will interact with each other daily using a common Edmodo group code to join in with discussions where they will also post pictures and videos of their results and investigations. They will create graphic displays of their data to share with each other. They will discuss all cases where experimental results were common and all where results were not common and why that might have been so.
Equipment:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
· Step-by-Step Instructional Strategies: The PDF
Day 1 Water, a Liquid (Page 13 in the PDF)
Day 2 Water, a Liquid (Page 19 in the PDF)
Day 3: Water a Liquid (Page 25 in the PDF)
Day 4: Water a Liquid (Page 31 in the PDF)
Day 5 Water, a liquid (Page 36 in the PDF)
Formative Assessment Strategies:
Summative Assessment Strategies:
Videos or activities related to the subject area
http://www.brainpop.com/games/mattersorter/